And on we go....

Another week full of excitement already!

We were back at Emerg on Tuesday afternoon with a bleeding stoma.  A doctor came to see him right away and we had excellent care. It was great to go during the day as there was a surgeon at the hospital so the ER doc called the surgeon to the ER to help get the bleeding controlled. He put in some more stitches (in the ER with local anesthetic) and things are fine for the time being. 

I spoke with our family doctor this morning to try and better understand what is going on.  The doc said it is portal hypertension, which means there is high blood pressure in the portal vein, which is causing the bleeding. There is so much pressure that the vein acts like an artery and that is why there is so much bleeding so fast. It is sounding like there is nothing they can do about it. They will just keep stitching and tying off the vein when it starts to bleed uncontrollably. The most likely cause is a tumour in the liver putting pressure on the vein. It is possible, although unlikely, that it is a blood clot causing pressure (according to my Dr. Google research).  

We spoke to the palliative care consultant who suggested to increase the stool softener and laxative to try and soften up the stool even more, and hopefully take some of that pressure off the vein. I have also sent past CT reports and doctor's notes to the palliative care doctor for her to review.  They are all to meet tomorrow and hopefully have some answers to how serious this is,  how it relates to the big picture, and what we should be prepared for now. They may order some tests to see if they can confirm the cause of the venous pressure. I hope to hear tomorrow and have some answers, although I am sure I will also end up with more questions!

Callum had another transfusion of 2 units today. It was basically uneventful. Thank goodness that appointment was already in place!

It is difficult to not have a fair bit of worry and fear right now.  We are in constant worry that the stoma will start bleeding again. We don't know if we should stop the "blood thinner" - it might help keep the bleeding a bit more controlled, but then there is the risk of blood clots causing trouble.  We are preparing for the possibility that we will hear some difficult information in the next few days.  We still are hoping for some tests and an easy to fix the problem, though!  We can't lose hope after all this time!

He is still sleeping quite a bit, even with the transfusions.  I hope it passes in the next few days, but I am suspecting we are starting to see things progress. It is so sad - he doesn't deserve this. We don't deserve this. But.....we are not the only ones in such a situation and we have had many wonderful times - with more yet to come.

As Callum would say "Play it where it lies"!

TTFN

Lorna